Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and its adjustment method, and in particular to an image processing apparatus mounted on a vehicle and its adjustment method.
Related Art
It is well known that an image processing apparatus is installed in a vehicle to carry out image recognition of a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle by picking up an image and acquiring image data in the forward direction of the vehicle using a camera installed in the vehicle. Such an image processing apparatus, as disclosed in JP-A-2010-196653, for example, is also well known to control a lighting device of the vehicle after carrying out image recognition of the preceding vehicle or the oncoming vehicle.
Color characteristics of the image data acquired by such an image processing apparatus may vary depending on the image processing apparatus installed in the vehicle, due to various factors (e.g., characteristics such as of a windshield, lens, polarizing filter, OLPF (optical low pass filter), color filter and imager). In this case, a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle may not be correctly recognized in the acquired image data.
In addition, color characteristics of the image data acquired by an image processing apparatus may be deviated from the true and correct color characteristics due to the age deterioration of the image pickup element and the lens of the camera. In this case as well, a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle may not be correctly recognized in the acquired image data.